Am I an accomplished writer? What does that even mean?

Before I started this MFA in Creative Nonfiction (CNF) program, I used to think that being an “accomplished” writer meant being published, being well known, maybe even being a New York Times best seller. But I have to come to realize that accomplishments alone do not define what it means, to me, to be an accomplished writer.

Before I started the CNF program, I did not feel “accomplished,” even though I had already had three poems published in literary magazines and created and self-published two journals. While I did see those as great accomplishments. I did not consider myself accomplished or successful, because who even was I? No one. Why would anyone read my work? I didn’t know.

What I’ve learned in this program is that what makes an accomplished writer is dedicating yourself to the craft, setting aside time to write and revise and write and revise and write and revise, sharing your work with others because you’ve realized that you have something to say. For me, those are the greatest accomplishments; those are what make you an accomplished writer.

What I know now is that just by being here I am an accomplished writer. I make time to write, because I know I have something to say and stories to tell, and I know my stories matter. Someone in my past once told me that I had “nothing interesting to say,” and that has stuck with me for 20 years now. Because of that, I have at times avoided sharing my writing, sometimes even avoided writing at all. This past summer, during our workshops at Wylie, several people told me how wrong that person was. They told me to keep writing because I do have something to say. I am finding that those words are slowly replacing the words from my past.

When I started this program, I was incredibly anxious to share my work, and while that anxiety still persists, now I want to share my stories. Perhaps I will even help someone by sharing my words.

Now that I know I am an accomplished writer, the question becomes, “Am I successful? What does it mean to be a successful writer versus an accomplished writer?”

The Cambridge Dictionary defines success as “the achieving of the results wanted or hoped for; something that achieves positive results.” It defines accomplishment as “something that is successful, or that is achieved after a lot of work or effort.”

These definitions summarize how I feel right now about what it means to be an accomplished writer versus a successful writer. Now that I have come to realize that I am an accomplished writer, I also feel successful. I work hard at my craft and I am constantly trying to improve. This program helped me come back to writing, to find my passion again. I am proud of the work I have done in this program, and I am slowly learning to be proud of the work I have done prior to this program. That, to me, is “the achieving of the results wanted or hoped for; something that achieves positive results”—success.

Of course, I would like to have a book picked up by a publisher, I would like to be published in more literary magazines, I would like to be known for my writing. Of course I want those things. But none of those things make me accomplished or successful—I am already both of those things.

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